(Pic: Shutterstock)
CNBC: The U.S. government has a massive, secret stockpile of bitcoin — Here’s what happens to it
* The U.S. government regularly holds auctions for its stockpile of bitcoin, ethereum, litecoin and other cryptocurrencies it seizes.
* Auctions kicked off in a big way with the 2013 takedown of Silk Road, a dark web marketplace that traded in illegal goods.
* “It could be 10 boats, 12 cars, and then one of the lots is X number of bitcoin being auctioned,” said Jarod Koopman, director of the Internal Revenue Service’s cybercrime unit.
For years, the U.S. government has maintained a side hustle auctioning off bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Historically, Uncle Sam has done a pretty lousy job of timing the market.
The 500 bitcoin it sold to Riot Blockchain in 2018 for around $5 million? That’s now worth north of $23 million. Or the 30,000 bitcoin that went to billionaire venture capitalist Tim Draper for $19 million in 2014? That would be more than $1.3 billion today.
The government has obtained all that bitcoin by seizing it, alongside the usual assets one would expect from high-profile criminal sting operations. It all gets sold off in a similar fashion.
“It could be 10 boats, 12 cars, and then one of the lots is X number of bitcoin being auctioned,” said Jarod Koopman, director of the Internal Revenue Service’s cybercrime unit.
Read more ....
Update: Feds Dabbling in Bitcoin Through Crime Seizure and Sales (Newsmax)
WNU Editor: Wow! The U.S. government is seizing a lot of crypto ....
.... “In fiscal year 2019, we had about $700,000 worth of crypto seizures. In 2020, it was up to $137 million. And so far in 2021, we’re at $1.2 billion,” Koopman told CNBC in August. The fiscal year ended Sept. 30.
2 comments:
Yeah, they beat you to it Mr editor. What are you spending your wealth on now, more silver?
So when you go to pay for your meal with crypto, how do you get back your change?
Post a Comment